Collection Georges Marye (Paris, 1842? -Paris, 1900) and Florence Léonide Charvin, known as Mademoiselle Agar

Full study by Monica De Vincenti and price available upon request 

These two marble busts, depicting Spring and Winter, exemplify with remarkable clarity the transition of Venetian sculpture in the 1740s toward an erudite classicism that prefigures Neoclassicism.
Executed by Antonio Gai, hailed as the “half-Michelangelo” of Venice, they attest to his extraordinary technical virtuosity and his ability to transform ancient prototypes into modern archetypes. Spring, a radiant young goddess crowned with flowers, embodies vitality and renewal, while Winter, an aged figure ensconced in a fur-lined cloak, evokes introspection and maturity. The exquisite treatment of drapery, the nuanced modeling of flesh, and the subtleties of gesture orchestrate a poetic dialogue between movement and repose, elegance and gravitas, youth and age.
These works further bear witness to the decisive influence of Anton Maria Zanetti, Gai’s friend and mentor, whose scholarship and promotion of antique collections, notably through the publication of Antiche statue, profoundly shaped the aesthetic milieu of Venetian art.
In the nineteenth century, the busts were installed on the façade of Mademoiselle Agar’s Parisian residence, the celebrated tragedienne and muse of the Parnassians, where their presence reflected the couple’s cultivated taste for classical antiquity and idealized beauty. The allegory of Spring, in particular, may be read as an idealized portrait of the actress adorned as one of her tragic heroines.
Thus, these marbles, at once refined and expressive, epitomize the sophisticated interplay between eighteenth-century Venetian artistry and the aesthetic sensibilities of European collectors, preserving their beauty and expressive force across the centuries.